GST / HST on new construction

What this calculator answers

How much sales tax you will actually pay on a new home once every rebate is applied. For the rules behind each rebate — who qualifies, and how to claim — see the new home rebate calculator; this page is about the bottom line.

Who pays GST or HST on a home

A newly built or substantially renovated home bought from a builder carries GST, or HST in the harmonized provinces, on the price. A resale home does not. The tax is due on closing and is usually built into the price the builder quotes, with the rebates assigned to the builder — so the useful question is what tax is left after them.

Rates by province

• HST 13%: Ontario
• HST 14%: Nova Scotia, since April 1, 2025 (it was 15%)
• HST 15%: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island
• GST 5%: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the territories
• Quebec: GST 5% plus QST 9.975%, with a separate QST rebate from Revenu Québec

First-time buyers: the federal part can go to zero

The First-Time Home Buyers' (FTHB) GST/HST rebate became law on March 12, 2026 (Finance Canada). For agreements signed with a builder from March 20, 2025 and before 2031, it removes the GST — or the federal 5% part of HST — on a new home up to $1 million, a saving of up to $50,000, and phases out in a straight line between $1 million and $1.5 million. Construction must start before 2031 and be substantially complete before 2036, and you can claim it once in your lifetime.

Worked example: a first-time buyer of a $750,000 new home in Alberta owes $37,500 of GST and gets all of it back. At $1.25 million the rebate is half the maximum, $25,000.

Everyone else: the federal rebate stops at $450,000

Without first-time buyer status, only the long-standing GST/HST new housing rebate applies to the federal part: 36% of it, up to $6,300, in full at $350,000 or less and phasing out to nothing at $450,000. Above $450,000 a repeat buyer pays the full 5%.

Ontario: the provincial 8%

Ontario rebates 75% of the 8% provincial part up to $24,000 at any price. For agreements signed between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, the temporary enhanced rebate returns the full 8% up to $80,000 on homes up to $1 million (a flat $80,000 to $1.5 million) for any eligible buyer, and first-time buyers can claim up to $80,000 under Ontario's own first-time rebate. Together, Ontario rebates cannot exceed $80,000 or the provincial part paid. A first-time buyer of a $750,000 new home in Ontario can therefore owe no HST at all.

Assignments and investors

Since May 7, 2022, every assignment sale of a new home is taxable, so GST/HST also applies to the assignment fee (CRA GI-120). If you are buying to rent rather than to live in, the new housing and first-time rebates do not apply; the New Residential Rental Property Rebate is the relevant program.

Related

• New home rebate: eligibility and how to claim
• Total closing costs
• Land transfer tax